Abdominal belt



H. A. MUNIN.

ABDOMINAL BELT.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.19, 19x9.

1,39 1 ,56 3 Patented Sept. 20, 1921.

UNITED STATES HENI tI ALFRED MONIN, OF ST. DENIS, FRANCE.

ABDOMINAL BELT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 20, 1921.

Application filed August 19, 1919. Serial No. 318,515.

To ail whom it may 07266771! Be it known that I, H nNm Anrnnn MoNIN, a citizen of the Re )ubli c of France, and a resident of 53 Rue letit a St. Denis, Seine, France, have invented a new and useful Abdominal Belt, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for object an abdominal belt, especially intended to be worn by persons suffering from the affection known under the name of enteroptosis.

I t has been found that to produce effective relief to this affection, it is necessary to em' ploy an apparatus which fulfils certain essential conditions. It has been recognized that the pressure to be effected upon the ab domen must be exerted principally at the lowest point of the hypogastrium and upon the median line; it must also take its point of support upon the iliac crest and be exerted not only longitudinally but alsoobliquely so as to raise the mass of the in tcstines. It must, moreover, be readily adjustable according to the varying sensitivencss of the organs. Lastly, it must impede neither the circulation of the blood nor the respiration, and must avoid the discomfort and fatigue caused by the use ofgrips.

The experiment known as the bandage test and consisting in crossing the hands upon the lower abdomen and pressing upwardly, fulfils these different conditions. The patient experiences an immediate benefit, the intestinal mass resuming its place and no longer weighing upon the ligaments.

The abdominal belt which forms the subject of the present invention reproduces as it were in a mechanical manner the experiment which has been referred to above, and fulfils all the conditions enumerated in the preceding passage.

It consists of an abdominal supporting belt having, at each side a series of supporting bands, preferably elastic, and a girth or holding strap arranged vertically below the abdomen-supporting belt, the supporting bands of one side of the latter crossing obliquely those of the other side, and those of one rank detachably engaging those of the next lower rank, while the lowermost bands engage the girth strap.

The lower horizontal or oblique girth maintains the belt in place and obviates the use of grips and consequently the discomfiort and fatigue which each apparatus pror uces.

A form of construction of the object of the invention is represented by way of example upon the annexed drawing in which:

Figure 1 shows the belt opened out.

Fig. 2 shows the belt in place.

The portion of the belt represented by a is made of non-elastic fabric; it is provided with a lacing 7) to allow it to be fitted upon the body of the wearer. The portion a is extended on each Fig. 1, independent of one another and made of elastic fabric. These bands are furnished with a series of eyelets d and with a hook s. so as to allow their tension to be adjusted. Owing to the manner in which they are disposed, these bands cross one another 0bliquely when they are connected together (Fig. 2), and therefore exert forces which tend to raise the mass of the intestines.

The belt is completed by a lower bandage or girth strap f which prevents it from rising: and to which the straps c of the lowermost rank are attached by means of hooks e, or the like, similar to those employed on the upper ranks of straps c.

It will readily be seen that this belt, as a resnlr of its conformation, fulfils all the con- (litions which have been indicated, viz. the reinforcement of the pressure upon the median line of the abdomen by reason of the intemrossing of the bands,- t e point of support ;pon the iliac crest owing' to the arrangement of the non-elastic portion of the belt; the raising of the intestinal mass by the obliquity of the bands,- the possibility of regulatingthe pressures exerted at the different points by" the independent adjust ment of the bands, "which at the same time allows freedom of respiration and circulation; lastly, the suppression of grips by the use of a lower bandage.

It is quite evident that the invention is not limited to the form of construction which has been described only by way of example. Thus, the number of bands, and their method of adjustment and attachment may be different from those which have been indicated; the bands might likewise be fitted to the interior or the exterior of belts or side by bands or straps c,

upon the median line of the abdomen corsets of the ordinary or of special kinds or of analogous appliances.

Claims:

1. A therapeutic appliance of the type described, comprising an abdomen-supporting belt having a series of elastic supporting straps extending from its opposite front edges and crossing each other at an angle, a holding belt arranged below the support ing belt, and means for detachably engaging the straps of one side with the straps of the other side, but of a lower rank, and

means for detachably engaging the straps of the lowermost rank with the holding belt.

2. In the construction specified in claim 1., means for independently varying the detachable engagement of the straps to vary their pressure in accordance with the sensitivcness of the subjacent organs.

HENRI ALFRED MONIN.

Witnesses:

JACQUES ARMnNeANo, Pnnum ARMnNoANn.

It is hereby certified that in Lutbcrs Patent, No. 1,391,563, granted September 20, 1921, upon the application of Henri Alfred Monin, of St. Denis, France, for

an improvement in "Abdominal Bvlts," an error appuars in the printed specificat-ion roquiring correction as follows: Page 1, line 55, for the word "ca -h read such and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same. may conform to the I'm-0rd of the case in the Patent Ofiice Signed and sealed this 15111 of November, A. 11,192].

[sun] KARL FENNING,

Aqting Commissioner f Patents. 

